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He was. When Roman came back down, dressed in fleece-lined sweat pants, a warm winter jacket, thick gloves, and a beanie, Caleb stood at the front door. When he spotted Roman, his eyes lit up. At least he wasn’t upset about having to babysit him. Roman couldn’t deny it was a boost to his ego that Caleb genuinely seemed happy to spend time with him.
“Wander’s boots.” Caleb handed him a pair of sturdy snow boots.
“You know where we can go?” Roman asked while he put them on.
“There’s a trail along the river that I’m hoping we can use. Not sure if it’s been cleared of snow after last week’s snowstorm, but we’ll find out.” Caleb casually checked his handgun and tucked it into the pocket of his ski jacket. Like Roman, he wore a beanie, though he didn’t have gloves on.
Roman swallowed. Of course Caleb would have a gun. Kinda hard to protect someone without being armed, yet it drove home that Roman was in real danger. So far, the threats had been theoretical, but this confirmed that it might not stay that way. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. If he went down that road, he wouldn’t be able to function.
He followed Caleb outside, where a gray sky packed with clouds awaited them. Caleb looked up. “We may get more snow, but we’ll see. We won’t venture too far from the house anyway.”
They crossed the lawn toward the river, which was frozen over, the ice irregularly shaped with cracks and bumps everywhere and covered with snow. Not the kind of picture-perfect mirror one could skate on with ease. “I used to love skating,” he said.
“Yeah? What kind? Hockey?”
Roman snorted. “Do I look like the kind who would play hockey? Nah, far too violent for me. I played lacrosse in high school, but I also loved speed skating. I even flirted with the idea of going pro. My coach said I had a talent for it.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I didn’t have the ideal build for it, and it would mean full dedication to speed skating at the expense of everything else. I didn’t want to lose out on life, you know? Never regretted it.”
“I never was one for team sports. Track and field was more my thing and, later on, martial arts. My mom signed me up for karate because I was getting bullied, and she wanted me to be able to defend myself.”
“Bullied? Why?”
Caleb shrugged. “I was a total geek, and I was gay. Those were two strikes against me.”
“Did you ever have to fight a bully?”
“I did. Tommy Luciano, the captain of the football team. He thought it would be funny to cram my bony ass into a locker, but he ended up with a black eye and a busted knee. I beat the shit out of him, fueled by pure fury and adrenaline. His coach was livid because he was out for the rest of the season due to his knee.”
Roman whistled. “You must’ve hit him good, then. They didn’t blame you?”
“Oh, Tommy tried to spin it so I’d be the bad guy, but security cameras had captured the whole incident, and they proved he attacked me unprovoked. After that, nobody ever bothered me again.”
As he was talking, Caleb kept looking around, scanning the environment. He clearly took his job seriously.
“Are you expecting trouble?” Roman asked.
“Not expecting it. Counting on it. That way, they can never catch us unprepared. Your brother’s motto.”
Sounded like Wander, all right. “He’s good at what he does.”
“The best. He has a stellar reputation. Getting hired by him was the best day of my life.”
“That was becoming a DA for me.” He winced. “I probably shouldn’t say it like that because my predecessor got killed, which is why there was a vacancy.”
“The mob burned down his house, right?”
Roman nodded. Of course Caleb would know. The case had been on the national news. “He was going after the Fitzpatrick family. They retaliated.”
“That didn’t scare you?”
“I was terrified, but I felt I didn’t have a choice. We had a key witness willing to testify against them despite being brutally attacked and tortured by them, so how could I back down? I owed it to him and every other victim of the Fitzpatricks to take over.”
“It was courageous.”
“I don’t exactly feel courageous right now.”
